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OUR MISSION:
"The mission of Goodwill Industries of Kanawha Valley Inc., is to assist
people with disabilities or those who are otherwise vocationally
disadvantaged to achieve full participation and integration into
society."
OUR HISTORY:
Goodwill International was founded at the turn of the century in Boston by
Rev. Edgar Helms, a Methodist minister seeking ways to help residents in the
city's impoverished South End. Helms collected used household goods and
clothing in wealthier areas of the city; then trained and hired poor people
and immigrants to mend and repair the used goods. The goods were then resold,
or were given to the people who repaired them. The system worked, and the
Goodwill philosophy of "a hand up, not a hand out" was born.
The organization was formally incorporated in 1910. Known, at the time, as
Morgan Memorial Cooperative Industries and Stores, Inc. (a reflection of its
headquarters in Boston's Morgan Memorial Chapel), it provided job skills
training programs, and even a rudimentary placement service. The name
Goodwill Industries was later adopted after a Brooklyn, NY workshop coined
the phrase.
Dr. Helms' vision set an early course for what would one day become a $2.06
billion nonprofit organization. Helms described Goodwill Industries as both
an "industrial program as well as a social service enterprise...a
provider of employment, training, and rehabilitation for people of limited
employability, and a source of temporary assistance for individuals whose
resources were depleted."
Today, there are 186 Goodwill agencies in the U.S., Canada and 22 other countries.
Our client base has expanded to include people with developmental, physical,
mental and emotional disabilities, as well as socio-economic barriers such as
illiteracy, homelessness, advanced age, past substance abuse, lack of work
experience or criminal history.
The
Goodwill Industries International office is located
at:
15810
Indianola Drive
Rockville,
MD 20855
GII’s CEO is Jim Gibbons.
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